Ander Herrera warns Bastian Schweinsteiger he will fight for his place in the first-team

Spanish star Herrera has spent the summer watching boss Louis Van Gaal splash the cash on luring Schweinsteiger and France international Morgan Schneiderlin to Old Trafford.

It means Van Gaal now has eight central midfielders at his disposal as he looks to turn United into champions again.

United have broken the bank to land Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich after handing him a £275,000-a-week deal that makes him the highest-paid midfielder in the top flight, as Starsport exclusively revealed.

He is almost guaranteed to be one of the first names on the team-sheet for Van Gaal, who also has Juan Mata, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Daley Blind and Andreas Pereira to choose from.

The prospect of going head-to-head with World Cup winner Schweinsteiger, who has collected every major honour in the game, would fill most people with dread.

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DETERMINED: Herrera will fight for his place in the team

“It’s a good challenge for me. I love football, I love my job and I love to improve, so I don’t see that as a problem”

Ander Herrera

But while Herrera admits playing with Schweinsteiger will improve his game, he has no intention of playing second fiddle.

He said: “We have the capacity to buy new players and now there are even better players than last season.

“I always want to play with the best players and Bastian is one of the best in the world.

“He is always safe with the ball, he always knows what is at his back and I’m sure I am going to learn a lot of things from him.

“But it’s a good challenge for me. I love football, I love my job and I love to improve, so I don’t see that as a problem.

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LEGEND: Herrera thinks Schweinsteiger's arrival can only help his game

“I see it as a new challenge that will make me better.

“I knew in advance I was coming to maybe the biggest club in the world, so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to play, otherwise I would have stayed in Bilbao, where maybe it would have been easier for me to play.”

Van Gaal has spent more than £80m on new signings this summer and the pressure is now on him to deliver success.

But Herrera admits the Dutchman has set his sights on an historic quadruple and wants to sweep the board.

He said: “The manager wants us to fight for everything this season - Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup.

“So we are going to need many players to help us with that.

“If you want to make a good season, you don’t do it with 11 players you do it with 20 to 22 players.

“There are injuries, good and bad moments for the players, so everyone is going to be involved in what I think will be a very good season.”

Herrera, meanwhile, has shed light on some of the ‘philosophies’ of Van Gaal.

He added: “He has a philosophy, about the behaviour of the team, both on the pitch and off it.

“It is also about the style of football. He always wants to be the protagonist in the games.

“He always wants to win the games through the ball, trying to attack all the time, but he doesn’t like to take so many risks.

“He wants to get possession and he wants players who can play the ball and don’t lose it.”